#1

Beats by Dre Releases new spot ahead of Mayweather McGregor

Beats by Dre has released a new ad featuring UFC fighter Conor McGregor, in advance of his highly anticipated “fight of the century” versus Floyd Mayweather. The ad features a young Irishman hanging out with his friends on their way to a boxing match at a local gym in Ireland. These scenes are interspersed with clips of present-day McGregor getting ready for his training, and entering the ring, and ends with the phrase, “Above the Noise”. McGregor is well-known for his brash attitude, charisma, and willingness to enter into any form of trash talk with his opponent (especially Floyd Mayweather). In his career, McGregor has become “notorious” for making bold predictions, often while being severely doubted by his opponents and the media; however, he has risen to the top of the fighting world by delivering on these predictions. For this reason, McGregor seems like an excellent fit for the brand. In the past Beats has leveraged confident, but often maligned athletes such as LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, and Colin Kaepernick and used their product as a euphemism for the athletes drowning out the naysayers. Leveraging McGregor is also a potentially risky strategy by Beats (now owned by Apple) as he has been willing to cross the line into politically incorrect territory when trash-talking with his opponents. Beats will have to ensure that McGregor does not venture too far off brand for Beats which is always a risk when partnering with outspoken athletes.

#2

Pepsi releases exclusive Snapchat Filters

Pepsi Canada has teamed up with Snap to release 20 exclusive Snapchat Lenses. Each Pepsi Lens can be unlocked via specially designed Snapcodes on select Pepsi products. Pepsi utilized Snap’s creative social platform in order to connect with consumers and enhance the way they share their summer experiences. Lenses will unlock for one hour, with the option to scan and unlock multiple times. Each Snapcode design features an illustration that provides a sneak peek into the Lens. A similar experiential activation concept has been used before by Pepsi’s main competitor, Coke. The Play a Coke campaign involved consumers downloading the Play a Coke app, scanning the bottle, and receiving a select playlist on Spotify. Although the two concepts are similar, Pepsi did a great job at simplifying the process by using an app that most smart phone users already have downloaded and distributing specialized content through this platform. This reduces the risk of consumers not being able to access or engage the content for free. Snap it with Pepsi appears as a great fit for both partners, delivering fresh content to Canadian summer enthusiasts. They have taken the next step in enhancing their abilities to engage audiences through downloadable and experiential material.

#3

Forever 21 releases new collection with Future’s creative director

Forever 21 has created the Cease x Hendrxx x Forever 21 line and it is spearheaded by musician Future’s creative director Fred Foster, who started the streetwear brand Cease and Desist. The collection will feature athleisure items with Future’s Hendrxx branding and bold type. This partnership gives fans who do not have the time to wait for hours in line for exclusive pop-up shops or the money to afford resell prices, an opportunity to buy an artist’s exclusive line. Forever 21 has come under fire for stealing the likeness of artists without their permission, which has resulted in numerous copyright infringement lawsuits. Partnerships like this alleviate that reputation and are the closest way for Forever 21 to emulate music and streetwear authentically without infringing upon any copyright. With exclusivity being the primary force behind high resell prices on items with high demand and low supply, more artists may look to this strategy as a way to give fans more accessible merchandise.